Scooby Doo: The Gangs of Coolsville
by TsoLan
Summary: Following what they all think is a normal case, Daphne is captured by a vicious teenage gang and held hostage. Horrified, Mystery Inc are told that they must pay ten thousand dollars, or else Daphne will be killed. Unable to go to the police and with time fast running out, Mystery Inc decide to take matters into their own hands. But will their efforts be enough to save Daphne?
1. Prolouge

**Prologue**

"_Exterminate_! _Exterminate_! Extermina-oh no...no..."  
The "Dalek" screamed as it glided straight into the staircase and, having no legs, went cartwheeling down, landing on it's side at the bottom. The dustbin shaped "monster" had been chasing Shaggy and Scooby through the funfair after Fred's trap had failed abysmally. As usual.

The gang went running at once to the ruined Dalek. The top of the round, pepper pot shaped costume had come away.  
"Come on then Red Herring, we've got you now!" Fred cried triumphantly. Scooby padded over and pulled the ruined costume aside to reveal...  
"Wolfgang Smith?" the whole gang, apart from Velma cried out in shock.  
"Just as I suspected!" she announced. "You see, Wolf's gang has been under threat for weeks by this new gang who meet here in the park every night. So, by dressing up as this...Dalek thing, he planned to scare them away. Get them out of town."  
"Yeah, and I would have gott-" Wolfgang was cut off.  
"We've heard it all before Wolfie." Fred remarked. "The police have been called."  
"Scooby Dooby Dooo!"

That was how it began. A normal case, which they cracked, as usual. None of them ever expected the dreadful events that were to come...

**Note: Just to point out to those of you who might not know, a Dalek is a monster from a British Sci-Fi show called Doctor Who. It ain't something I made up. They're on my profile pic.**


	2. Find the Girl

The cramped and dirty bedsit at the centre of Coolsville City was full of gang members. The Iron Giants as they liked to call themselves. They were doing what they usually do, smoking, drinking, gambling and so forth. That was when Joe walked in.

"Bad news guys!" he announced. "Bad bloody news. The Guru's been caught!"  
The Guru was the name the gang used for their leader. Until today, leader was Wolfgang Smith, or Iron Wolf as he called himself. The fact he was caught meant disaster for the gang! He was the one who made all the connections, sent the drugs from here to there, bought the alcohol and basically held the Iron Giants together.

"How?" asked one of the gang members, his spliff hanging from his mouth.  
"Mystery bloody Inc. That's how! Peter! Your costume was rubbish! It's thanks to that that he was caught!" Joe spat at the weedy teenager with glasses. Outside of his gang life, he was an enthusiastic engineer and designer. He had designed the Dalek costume for the plan.  
"That Dalek was pure fibreglass and reinforced polyester!" He insisted in his defence. "If Iron Wolf was caught it weren't because of the costume! We all know how good Mystery Inc are!" For a minute it seemed that Joe was going to punch Peter. But then he relaxed.  
"Argh, maybe your right... oh well...guys, as Wolf's best friend and second in command, I hereby appoint myself the new Guru. From now on your refer to me as Iron Joe. Any objections?"

Nobody had any. Objecting against a new leader usually resulted in a severe beating, expulsion from the gang and sometimes death. Joe smiled a satisfied smile. He sat down on an ancient moth eaten armchair.  
"Right then. I'm in charge now. This is my reign. And do you know how I'm going to start my reign? Do you?"  
Of course nobody did. The dramatic effect Joe had been aiming for fell a bit flat.  
"Well...we need money. And I know who can pay us...our dear friends Mystery Inc! They can. I want you all out on the streets right now. Find the girl. The pretty one with red hair. Find her, and bring her here." Joe rubbed his hands together, an evil grin on his face. But nobody moved.  
"Well see to it!" he yelled angrily.

At once the gang leapt to their feet and headed for the door. Joe hid his face in his hands. Trying to organise this bunch of imbeciles was going to be harder than he thought. But they'd do it. He knew that they'd get the girl somehow. Mystery Incorporated would pay for putting Iron Wolf in prison.

**Note: Hope you like the chapter. Next one will be up pretty soon.**


	3. Tiptoe Through the Tulips

Mystery Inc liked to relax after cracking a case. For a few hours, they would sit in the wide, airy living room of Mystery Inc HQ and take a breather. Fred would most likely turn on the PlayStation. Daphne would be busy looking through fashion magazines. Scooby and Shaggy would be in the kitchen, eating. Velma however often enjoyed working on the case even after it had been solved. The fake Dalek had been brought back to the HQ and Velma carefully took out the tazer gun, connected to the plastic alien weapon attached to the tank like costume. Iron Wolf had been going around tazing the members of unwanted new gang in town. His plan had, to some extent, worked. The rival gang were too scared to enter Coolsville again. However, he had not intended to be caught. Going around dressed as an alien would not cost him dearly-but the use of the tazer gun was sure to earn him a somewhat hefty sentence. And then there were his other crimes to take into account...he'd be looking at at least five years inside. Velma smiled to herself. Catching criminals gave her a strong sense of satisfaction that she could not quite explain to anyone else.

Fred sighed and turned off the Playstation; he had been killed about thirty times in a row by a team of hackers. "We should go to Joe Lembit's party tonight." he said to Daphne. "It's his eighteenth and his parents always buy him loads of alcohol."  
"Well count me out Freddie. I was at Dorothy's party last night, we were up until about four. I'm too...too tired" she said, stifling a huge yawn.  
"Fair enough..." Fred was dissapointed. He always loved partying with Daphne. "Boys! Joe's party, ten tonight?" he called out to the kitchen.  
"Yeah bro!" Shaggy shouted back thickly, through a mouthful of turkey and salami.  
"Ryeah!" Scooby answered. They always took Scooby to parties and get-togethers. Everyone in Coolsville loved him and he entertained people for hours on end.  
"Velmster?"  
"Hmm...yeah, if I get this report done in time."

So, at nine that night, Everyone except Daphne set out to the party. They had to cross the city, and the subway took up to an hour sometimes.  
"Will you be all right on your own?" teased Fred.  
"Yeah! I'll dim the lights and watch the Exorcist or something. You guys go and have fun." she stood in the doorway and waved them off, secretly glad to see them go. "Peace and quiet" she muttered to herself as the Mystery Mobile pulled out. Daphne went back inside the HQ, slamming the door behind her. She was alone.

The two young men in the rusty Ford Focus had been parked outside the HQ for some time now. They were creased up in silent laughter as they watched Daphne go back into the house.

Daphne made herself a coffee and sat on the dark blue sofa, flicking through the TV channels. Wrestling, American Football, the news, a terrible soap opera, Adolf Hitler: The truth...she finally settled on The Jeremy Kyle Show USA. It amused her to see the skinny English man shouting in rage at the obese drug taking lowlifes that unfortunately existed in the USA.

"Get off my stage, stop feeling sorry for yourself, get a job, get clean of the drink  
_thump..._  
"stay out of trouble and support your kid! What is wrong with you?  
_creak..._  
Daphne heard the noises behind her, and muted the TV momentarily. All was silent. Shrugging, she turned the noise on, only to find the enigmatic host shouting again.  
"Stop calling your ex wife a Pit Bull, you piece of scum!"  
Daphne laughed out loud. That was when her blood turned into ice. She muted the television again, but this time she was shaking in fear...something had happened when she had laughed just then. Her blue eyes went as wide as beacons as she scanned the room around her. Why was she scared? Because, as she laughed at the events taking place on she television, there was a sound. A second laugh. Her own, and another, a muffled snigger which hastily died down as soon as she heard it. Somebody else had laughed.

Daphne crept into the kitchen as gracefully and silently as she could. She could see nobody. She couldn't hear anyone. But she was certain, absolutely certain that somebody else had laughed when she did. Arriving in the kitchen, she opened the cupboard and pulled out a knife. She'd never use it to hurt anyone. Never. But the intruder didn't know that.

As suddenly as anything, Velma's music player, which was in her bedroom, started up. This time Daphne screamed. It was the last thing she was expecting. She could feel her heart racing like mad. She recognised the song. Tiptoe through the Tulips. An old fashioned, somewhat creepy tune.

_#Tiptoe, by the window_  
_#By the window, that is where I'll be_  
_#Come tiptoe through the tulips_  
_#With meeee._  
Then it cut out. Whoever was in Velma's room had turned it off.

Daphne made her decision. She wasn't going to go into Velma's room and confront whoever was in there. She was going to leave the house and call the police. It was all very well to be brave. But that is not the same thing as behaving like an idiot. She didn't know anything about the intruder. He could kill her. He might have a gun. She knew that he or she might equally not; but it was not a risk she was willing to take.

She crept back out of the kitchen and into the living room. It seemed darker. That was her first thought. The amount of light in the room had diminished. Strange- the light was still on. The hairs on the back of her nick were up. She was being watched. She knew someone was behind her, but she couldn't bring herself to look. She blinked back tears. She wondered if she was about to die. She replayed the song slowly in her head.

_#Tiptoe, by the window_  
_#By the window, that it where I'll be_  
_#Come tiptoe through the tulips _  
_#With meeeee._

By the window. By the window...the window was behind her. Slowly, every molecule of her body quaking, she turned around to face the window. She had about a second to glance at the thin, acne covered young man sitting on the window ledge laughing at her. That was all she remembered. Another man crept out of the kitchen right behind her and injected her with something. A drug. She slumped, unconscious in about three seconds. He had been in the kitchen all the time she was in there. The Iron Giants were good at hiding. They had been inside Mystery Inc HQ for about three hours. Before the others had gone out. They even managed to elude Scooby Doo and his sense of smell.

"Did you ever believe it was going to be this easy?" one of the men asked his companion. "By the way, why did you have to burst out laughing?"  
"Jeremy Kyle just gets me dude. I couldn't help it" he chuckled and lifted his phone to his ear.  
"Aye?" it was Joe.  
"We've got the package, Guru We're in Mystery HQ right now! The others are out."  
"Splendid! Splendid! Now, go in and get her. Before the others get back!" he slammed the phone down.

"We'd better hurry it up." the first man in the car said. "We really do need to get out of here before they are back. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of that Dane!"  
"Relax, it's a wimp! Burch would mutilate him in a fight. Let's go." the man by the window heaved unconscious Daphne to his shoulder and the three of them left the house...

**Note: I hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter up soon. Peace.**

**PS: If you've never seen the Jeremy Kyle Show, you should. It's funny.**


	4. Problems

It was four in the morning when the gang came home from the party, more than slightly intoxicated and no less than extremely exhausted. Even Scooby Doo seemed tired, something which rarely occurred.

"Keep it quiet guys" Fred said groggily, swaying slightly. "Daph will probably be sleeping..."  
"Shleeeeeeep" Scooby muttered dreamily, wanting more than anything to get into his basket and slumber.  
Fred took the house key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. It took four attempts. But he managed it, and the three humans and their dog stumbled through. Velma and Shaggy were supporting each other around the waist, laughing hysterically. Even they didn't know what they were laughing at.

The house was quiet- of course Daphne would be sleeping. The four friends stumbled into their bedrooms. Briefly, Fred considered looking in on Daphne, but decided against it. He walked into his dark room, and without changing, collapsed onto the sheets and fell asleep in seconds.

Daphne opened her eyes. Then she shut them again. She lay there, eyes shut for a few moments before she opened them again, trying to make sense of her surroundings. She was in a small room, dirty and cramped. Nearly everything was grey. She was sure it hadn't been made that way. Her head was spinning and she felt sick. She tried to lift her hand to her forehead. But failed. Her hands and feet were tightly bound together by thick rope. She was lying on a filthy mattress on the floor. She then noticed a man, sitting on a chair by the door. He was quite handsome. About twenty-five, very well built with dark hair that fell to his shoulders.

"W...what's happening?" she asked him. "How did I get here? I...I don't understand...  
"Would you like a drink? Food?" Daphne shook her head, so he continued. "Well then, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Joe, recently appointed Guru of the Iron Giants Club. My colleuges took your credentials when they came for you last night. Daphne Anne Blake. Aged ninteen."

Already Daphne was beggining to remember what had happened- the disturbances lat night, seeing someone by the window, the music...it slowly re-entered her head.  
"You...you kidnapped me! Last night!" she yelled at him.  
"Well...I instructed your kidnap, indeed. Yes." Joe paused a moment, and considered the beautiful face which was gazing at him with a look of loathing and fear. "I'll cut straight to the chase then. Yestarday, you unmasked by predecessor, Guru Wolfgang Smith. In the theme park. Yes?"  
"Yeah...he was dressed as a Dalek." Daphne said "Yeah, we unmasked him." Daphne was filling with dread as she spoke. She could see where this was going. Her and her gang had sent the leader of this gang straight to jail...

"Iron Wolf, as he liked to call himself, was a brilliant Guru." Joe told Daphne. "He had great contacts, he was great at making allies, he took good care of our finances. He was the best. So as you can imagine, we do not appreciate you putting him behind bars. So we are going to take all of your little team's money. Every single penny. And you, my dear will help us do that."  
"Forget it! You'll get no help from me." Daphne spat at him indignantly.  
"Oh yes you will. You see, you are being a huge help just by being here. You will help us ensure we get our money. You see...if they don't pay up within the next two days then we will kill you." Joe informed Daphne, as if he were a doctor about to break some bad news.  
"And if they pay you let me go?" Daphne asked.  
"Possibly." Joe stood up. He looked down at Daphne, nodded to himself and left the room. Daphne heard the lock click behind him...

The note was stapled to the ceiling. Fred's ceiling, just above his bed. Of course he hadn't seen in in the darkness of four in the morning. But now, at eleven, that was the first thing he saw when he woke up with a splitting headache. He stood up on the bed and snatched the note from the ceiling. The handwriting was poor and the spelling no better. It read:

_We have the girl. Do not call the polise or she will die slowley and painfuly. We want ten thousend dollars and we want it by midnight tomorow. No polise. Her life is in your hands. Bring the money to the theme park, preferably during the night._

Fred read the note through and through, trying to make sense of what he had just heard. His legs were turning to jelly as panic automatically rose in his throat... Daphne was in terrible danger...his hangover vanished in the moment as he rushed into the living room. Shaggy and Scooby were nowhere to be seen, but Velma was awake, eating a bowl of muesli.  
"Hungover?" she asked groggily  
"Look at this! Look at it!" Fred was practically screaming.  
Velma read the note, her eyes becoming more narrow behind her glasses as she read each line. "Wake up the other two." she said. "I think we've got problems..."

**Note: Strange place to finish, I know, but it's late and I'm exhausted. I hope you'll enjoy the chapter nontheless. Next chapter up soon :~D**


	5. No Cops

Half an hour later, the four remaining members of Mystery Inc were awake, sitting around the kitchen table with grim expressions on their faces.

"Like, ten thousand dollars, man! We can't get that in forty-eight hours! It's impossible." Shaggy exclaimed  
"Actually it's mathematically possible." Velma informed him, working out a complicated sum on a pad of paper. "I mean, it's the weekend! If we all pitch in...yes...but we better hurry, the bank closes at midday on a Saturday."  
"Then let's go!" Fred leapt to his feet and raced for his coat.  
Shaggy snorted "We can't pay! Like, these guys are thugs! We might get shot down as soon as we get there! Listen man...Daphne might already...no, it's too huge a risk. We need to call the cops!"  
Fred stared at him. "But if we do that Daphne will die! She'll die!" he yelled in Shaggy's face. "Dosen't that matter to you?" Shaggy was infuriated. Of course it mattered to him. He stood up and pressed his body against Fred's looking right into his eyes. "Does it matter? Does it matter?" but before he could do anything, Scooby pulled him away whispering "Ralm rown Raggy!" in his ear.

"Freddie..." Velma muttered hesitantly. She knew that Fred would never allow anything bad to happen to Daphne. If these people said no police, as far as he was concerned it was no police. Not when Daphne was at stake.  
"Like, calm down man. We've got to go to the cops!" Shaggy told him. "They're good at their job. They'll get us her back."  
"You know what, I'm the leader! "Fred screamed. "No cops! No cops!" He stood up, kicking his chair aside violently and hammering his fist into his bedroom door. He went into his bedroom and slammed the door with such force that the house shook.

Meanwhile, at the Iron Giants safe house breakfast was ready. Daphne watched as an overweight kid with sallow skin and dirty hair brought it on on a tray.  
"Breakfast" he muttered, not looking at Daphne.  
"Greasy and revolting." she replied.  
The youth blinked foolishly. He wasn't good at communicating. "So you don't want it?" he asked aggressively.  
"Yes please." Daphne smiled sweetly at him. "I wasn't talking about the food, I was talking about you." The youth didn't know what to do. He wanted to lash out at Daphne, but he was told not to do that. Instead, he scowled heavily at her, dropped the tray with a clatter and left, locking the door behind him. As soon as he was gone, Daphne bolted down her breakfast. A piece of toast and a mug of coffee. The toast was soggy and the coffee stone cold, but she didn't care. She needed all her strength to escape.

For she was going to escape. She decided. She wasn't going to wait here for them to stick a knife in her or worse. Whilst she was sure that the team would pay up and get her out eventually, she didn't want them spending thousands of pounds on her. She was very good with tools, frequently using things such as nail files or make-up to escape bad situations. Personally she felt that the Wickles Manor incident was her highlight. But not now. For more footsteps were approaching the door outside.

Joe walked down the narrow corridor to the store cupboard cell. "Get out of here!" he hissed, aiming a kick at the gang's enormous grey and black Pit-Bull terrier that was prowling around. Despite it's vicious appearance, the dog whimpered and crawled away from Joe, it's head drooped. He unlocked Daphne's door and went in.

"Just so you know, the bug we fitted to the kitchen light bulb is working wonders. Your team is fighting with themselves. We can hear them."  
"Oh yeah? What are they doing?" Daphne asked.  
"Naturally, lover boy Frederick wants to pay. Wise man. The others aren't so sure. Think they should call the cops. I'm afraid, Daphne, that if they manage to talk Fred round, that will instantly mean the end of your life."

Daphne gulped, but looked Joe in the eye nonetheless "Don't imagine I'll go quietly." she whispered. "Oh I don't." Joe replied. "But you should know that the longer you struggle, the longer your death will take to arrive. It will be painful. Here- take this. It's one of our receivers, connected to the bug in your house. I want you to listen to what your gang are doing. If they call the police, you'll hear about it at the same time as us. And if they do...you'll know that we'll be coming here for you. We have our own one."

Daphne looked at the small walkie talkie and looked up at Joe "is this how you get a kick?" she asked angrily.  
"Not really. No. I'm only doing what has to be done." he replied. "Your little team has closed off our main source of income. Is it so wrong that we ask you guys to help us open another? This is ecomony, Daphne. This is business. Good day now. Don't go anywhere."

Daphne was once again left to her thoughts. The speaker was quiet at the moment, but she knew she would hear something soon. She was scared. She was too young to die. That was her only thought. But she reminded herself, she might not. First of all, she had to get out. She pulled out the hairpin she kept in her shoe (she was so used to being caught on cases, she kept it in there) and began silently working on the lock...

Velma and Shaggy sat on the park bench together, watching Scooby half-heartedly chase a Frisbee He was too worried to enjoy himself. Fred had not left his room since the argument earlier on

"We really should just pay up Shaggy. You realise that?" Velma gently told him.  
"Like, yeah man. I'm as concerned as the rest of you. But man, we can't turn up on a dark night, to a bunch of thugs. We don't even know these people!" the very thought filled Shaggy with fear. Velma was surprised. "Of course we know them..." she said.  
"We do?"  
"Of course. It's the Iron Giants. Who else would it be? We put their leader in jail the other day. They want revenge. They had the means to capture Daphne, so they did it."  
"How can you be sure?" Shaggy asked.  
"Well I...I can't be sure. Not sure. But I'm highly confident in it." Velma said.

The two sat together in silence for a bit longer, the mild wind blowing in their faces. Shaggy was first to break the silence. "Velmster, I don't want anything bad to happen to you. I...look, say we go there. They could take the money and then shoot us down. Then Daphne. I mean, like, I'm so sorry Velma but she could be dead already. Let's face it." Velma looked up in alarm. "Don't say that!" she exclaimed. "I know we are all thinking it, but none of us want to hear it yet. Look, the bottom line is that we have a duty to her. And her parents. We need to get them their daughter-" but Shaggy suddenly stood up, a gleam in his eyes.

"Wait one minute..." he said slowly. "The Blakes. George and Liz."  
"What of them?" Velma was confused.  
"They have money." he exclaimed.  
"But I thought you didn't want to pay?" Velma was getting uneasy. She could see where this was going. "Not for them! For us! Tell me, how many weapon suppliers live around here?" Shaggy asked her.  
"Shaggy no..." Velma was getting scared now.  
"No, like, listen to me Velmster. I know I never make the plans but this once I'm going to. Fred can't think straight when it comes to Daphne. "The Blakes have contacts...we can't go to the police. I realise that now. We can get weapons and guys!" Velma stood up as well. She was scared.

"Shaggy, no! We arne't like that. We arne't a gang...not really!" But Shaggy wasn't listening.

"Scoob!" he called out. At once, Scooby bounded back. "We're getting Daphne back, Velma. They took her, so we're going to get her back. The Iron Giants Club is in it's last days of existence. Come on. We need to talk to George and Elizabeth Blake. Lets go."

**Note: Thought it would be interesting to have Shaggy in charge for once. I don't think I've ever seen that. So yeah, they are going to see Daphne's parents. Can they reply upon the help of some old friends and together finally bring an end to the Iron Giant's reign of terror? Time will tell. Hope you are all enjoying this.**


	6. Attitude Problems

**Chapter 6**

George Blake listened intently as Shaggy and Velma explained the situation. When they finished, he sat up straight and spoke.  
"So let me get this straight...my youngest daughter is at the mercy of the biggest psychos in town...and you want me to...what? It sounds to me like you expect me to form some sort of Militia within the next day and launch an attack on these guys who you don't know for sure have Daphne. Is that about the gist of it? You know it's absolutely ridiculous right?"

They were sat in the huge, magnificent living room at Daphne's parents house. Her mother, Elizabeth was out shopping. George had been going through some accounts when Velma Shaggy and Scooby had come knocking. Shaggy was out in the garden. George occupied the vast armchair, leaving the plump sofa to the two friends.

"Well sir...that's pretty much it, yes." Velma said meekly. "I'm sorry. You obviously don't think much of the idea."  
"My dear girl... on the contrary, I think it's fantastic!" George announced, a gleam in his eyes. "I was never one for letting the cops do the work. They don't actually get much done. Now, I can get weapons...I got a dude who sells me guns. In case of intruders you know..." George Blake started pacing. He was a fighter and a survivor. He knew that. That's how he was so successful in business. He would do whatever it took to look after himself and his family. "Where's that thing Daphne fancies then? I thought he was your boss."  
"Like, still at Mystery HQ Mr Blake. He's not taking all this well." Shaggy explained.  
"Well you just get on the phone to him and tell him to get his useless arse over here. He spends enough time on those console games, he should love all of this." George snapped at Shaggy. "By the way you two...not a word to Liz, right. She won't be as calm about all of this crap as I am. She usually sobs every time Daphne is captured. But this is different. Daph's in _real_ danger man. If she hears about any of this, she'll be in the local asylum by midnight."

Shaggy and Velma couldn't help but admire George. He had wasted no time with sobs or panic. Many people thought him weird and more than slightly unstable. Most people were scared of him. He was a physically huge man. In fact, to tell the truth, everyone thought of him as a bully. He would cheerfully ruin the lives of anyone who threatened his business or well being. He spoke his mind no matter how it made people feel. In a TV interview he stated, live, that the rep for Ohio had a face like the rear end of a pig. It didn't go down too well. Not that he cared. He would get straight down to business and from the moment he heard of Daphne's current plight and was already working out ways to end it. But it was fair to say that he didn't like Fred. Not one bit. And for his part, Fred was utterly terrified of him.

"Now then...We can get guns, but there's only three of us... oh yeah, four if the blond idiot shows up. We need men. That's a little trickier isn't it? Any ideas?" George asked Velma or Shaggy.  
"No man..." Shaggy said  
"I know you wouldn't, Mr Rogers. I was asking the clever one. Well Velma?"  
"As it happens, yes. " replied Velma. "Do you know how this all started? There was this other gang, some new guys, who were hanging around by the theme park every night. The Iron Giants didn't like this so their leader dressed up as a Dalek-"  
"-A what?"  
"Don't worry. To scare them away. We caught the guy. That's why they've done this. That's why they have Daphne. If we contact this gang they scared off...tell them what's happening, then maybe, just maybe they will help us. They'll want to payback the Iron Giants at any rate."  
"Good girl. Norville, when you phone closet case, tell him not to come here after all. Tell him to pay a visit to this lot."

Fred emerged from his room red eyed from crying, to find the house silent. The others had gone out. That worried him. But surely they would have told him if they were going to do anything? He was being useless and he knew it. They had forty-eight hours to save Daphne and he had spent three of them crying his eyes out but getting nothing done.

He went to the kitchen, snivelling and poured himself some orange juice. What was he to do? Pay up. That was the only solution. But how? They couldn't magic up that amount of money in forty-eight hours! Well...forty five, by this time. Fred sat down at the kitchen table and hid his face in his hands. If he lost Daphne...it didn't bear thinking about. He loved her so much it was untrue. If she died at the hands of these brutes he would never forgive himself. He sobbed and sobbed.

The bug fixed to the light bulb transmitted the sobbing do The Iron Giants and too Daphne. "Don't cry Freddie..." she whispered to the transmitter. She knew he couldn't hear her but she couldn't bear it. But on reflection is mattered little. The lock was coming loose. Soon, she might well be out.

Just then the phone rang. Fred's mobile. He saw it was Shaggy. He answered.  
"Yeah?" he sniffed gloomily.  
"Oh mate, have you been crying?" Shaggy asked him  
"No...maybe...yeah." Fred thought he might as well own up. It wasn't like he didn't have a good reason to be crying. What did Daphne once say to him? Real men arne't afraid to cry. That was it.

"Tell him to man up and listen!" came George's voice as he listened in to the call.  
"Umm...you hear that dude?" Shaggy asked tentatively.  
"Are you with Daphne's parents? Why?" Fred shot up. "This is asking for trouble!"  
"No, no, no man! Like, George has totally got it sorted. He can get us weapons and we think we can get some guys to help us. We're going to assault the Iron Giant's HQ." Shaggy said.  
"This is absolutely ..the moment we do that they'll kill her! They'll kill Daph." Fred was practically screaming. He couldn't believe it. The Iron Giants were not the average enemy they were used to taking on. They were violent, well armed thugs and there were a lot of them.

"Dude, we need you to visit the Casablanca biking club. They live in Ironport." (Ironport was the neighbouring town, a few miles from Coolsville.) "They were the dudes that Wolfie Smith pulled the Dalek prank on. They might help us. They'll be royally annoyed at the Iron Giants. That much is sure. Go explain what's happened to them and they might be willing to help us out.  
"That's ludicrous! For all we know they might be just as evil as the Iron Giants! I refuse. This plan is going to kill Daphne!" Fred screamed down the line, rattling Shaggy's eardrum.  
"Norville" said George, still listening intently on the conversation. "Tell him if I want crap out of him, I'd squeeze his stupid watermelon of a head!"  
"You...you catch that as well?" Shaggy muttered to Fred. This was becoming impossible with George butting in to offer abuse at regular intervals  
"Yes." Fred replied frostily. "But this is all true! If we assault the Iron Giants, they'll give Daphne!"  
"In fact, give that phone to me." George commanded. "Give it to me right now." Shaggy knew better than to argue, and handed his phone to George. "Listen here boy. I hate you. I make no secret of that. I don't even know why really. You just annoy me. But I love Daphne. I know that you love Daphne. We both want to save her. Yes? This will work. I can get us weapons. You might be able to get us some troops. If we both succeed, we save Daphne."  
"Bu-" Fred began  
"No, I don't want a debate about it. Either you get yourself over to Ironport right now or I will come and jam one of my golf clubs where it will be uncomfortable. Good day now." he hung up.

Fred stood there in the kitchen for a moment. He considered his choices. But somehow he knew that the golf club threat was something to be taken seriously. What choice did he have? "Ironport" he muttered to himself. "Ironport..." and he left.

Meanwhile, at the Iron Giants clubhouse, Joe had heard every word Fred had said. He could only hear one side of the conversation of course. But he could still deduce what was going on. They were going to attack the club. They had disobeyed their instructions. He smiled. It was enough. It was time to kill Daphne Blake.

**Note: Sorry for all the delays, hope you enjoy the chapter. I know George (or Barty) Blake isn't a thing like this in the TV series, but I thought it would be a good little twist for this story.**


	7. Ready for Battle

Locked in her cell, Daphne heard Fred's conversation through the comms device Joe had given her. That's what gave her an advantage. Joe hadn't thought it through when he gave her it. Because she heard the plot at the exact same time as Joe, she knew that he'd be coming to kill her. She instantly stopped fiddling with the lock (for despite everything, it still wasn't open) and stood there thinking. Could she rely on her martial arts skills? No. Joe and his friends were just as good as that as she was. Then what? What? She looked around the cell for potential weapons, but there were none to speak of. Joe would certainly have a gun. She briefly wondered if the best thing was to simply let him kill her. One shot to the head. She wouldn't even know about it...but if she fought back, goodness knows what he'd to to her!

Suddenly, she had an idea. The walkie talkie! Of course! It had a feedback dial on it. She picked it up and gently turned the dial, just a little bit. A rasping, buzzing sound came out. She turned the dial a bit more...the sound continued, but louder and more unpleasant to the ears. She smiled. But her smile vanished rapidly as suddenly she heard footsteps approaching. Her executioner was on his way...

/

The huge white SUV pulled into the Blake's magnificent driveway. George, Shaggy and Velma went outside to greet the new arrival. Out of the SUV came an enormously fat man of about sixty. He was dressed in a smart suit with his dark hair neatly combed over. But it did little to enhance his appearance. His body had become like a huge water tank, with a small head perched on the top. His enormous gut seemed to wobble at the slightest move. His cheeks moved around far too much. They jiggled when he walked. His eyes had long since shrunk to make room for more wasted flesh. The somewhat grim look on his face suggested that he might have been in pain. Nonetheless he smiled merrily at George, bounding over to shake his hand.

"George m'boy!" he panted, seemingly out of breath from even the small walk to the door. "How are you doing?"  
George grabbed the newcomer's hand with both of his and shook it vigorously. "Nice to see you again old friend. Norville, Velma, may I introduce Terry Vasquez. An old friend of mine."  
"How do you do? How do you do?" Terry asked as he shook both Velma and Norville's hands. He turned back to George, suddenly businesslike.

"Now George...you wouldn't call me back here for no reason. Oh...just to let you know, if your planning any sort of fight then I'm opting out. I'm not quite as healthy as I were in the army days George. I'm afraid I'm not up to gunfights any more!" he wheezed indicating his oversized belly. "There's a lot of me. I'm rather easy to hit."  
"Oh Tezza, it's just your guns I'm interested in." George said. Velma noticed that he was a more more friendly towards this Terry guy than he had been with anyone else today. "One of my little redheads has been taken prisoner by a bunch of hooligans. We're going to get her back. Sure you won't join in Terrence? You'd make a fantastic shield!"

Terry threw back his head and laughed aloud. Shaggy was surprised He'd have been quite insulted if it were him. "No, Georgie. I'll give you some guns. Discounted I suppose, as it's you. And then I'll get out of here. I live a quiet life now George. I think I've earned it. A nice, quiet, carefree life."  
"Most of which he spends at McDonalds." Shaggy whispered to Velma. Velma giggled and nudged him sharply in the ribs.  
"Absolutely. I understand mate." George said. "By the way, have you still the scar from that bullet wound on your neck?"  
"No...my neck doesn't seem to exist any more Probably something to do with my fifth chin. Anyway...guns..." he reached into the boot of his car and produced a rather full looking golf bag. It was pretty certain that whatever was in there had nothing to do with golf...

/

Fred, meanwhile stepped out of the Mystery Machine in the centre of Ironport. There's nothing to say about Ironport. It was Coolsville's smaller and uglier sister and that is all. A small, redbrick decaying building read "Casablanca" in patchy neon letters. A bouncer stood outside and glared at Fred as he approached. When Fred was about five metres away from him, he reached into his pocket and brought out a gun. "Goodbye." he said. He didn't fire, but he gestured to the Mystery Machine, indicating Fred should leave. Fred took a deep breath and held his nerve. "I need to speak to whoever's in charge of this joint. Would that be possible?" he kept his tone as polite as possible.  
"Goodbye." the bouncer repeated, lifting his gun slightly. Fred's brain was screaming at him to turn around and walk, but something hidden deep inside him seemed to be blocking the signal to his legs. "This is really urgent" he mumbled. "I really need to see someone. It's about the Iron Giants."

The bouncer was clearly nothing but a hired security man. He was not in the club and he had been told to let nobody through. He had no interest in the clubs affairs. "Listen here. In five seconds, this conversation will end. It's your choice how it's going to end. Are you walking away or dying?"  
"This is the States man! You can't just shoot someone in the street!"  
"I can. Look." he released the safety catch "one shot and your down. Easy."  
To the bouncer's surprise, Fred smiled. "But how will you do that?" he asked innocently. "there's no mag."  
The bouncer knew full well that there WAS a magazine of bullets in the gun. But by instinct, he looked down at the gun, just for half a second. That's all the bouncer ever remembered. Fred delivered a full on smack right into the bouncer's face. All the rage and frustration of the recent events were in that punch. The guard was unconscious before he hit the ground. He could have even been dead. Fred hoped not. He reached down and picked up the fully operational pistol from the floor.

Suddenly, men appeared from all sides. There were men in the windows of the clubhouse, men on the roof, men behind him and a man at the doorway. They were all armed. "Shoot him." the man at the doorway commanded. "Shoot him at once!" All Fred could do was close his eyes and wait...

/

"So that's seven shotguns...two subbies... rifle..all right. Yes. That's gunna cost you Georgie boy. Even if I discount you half, it's a lot of money!"  
"I don't care Tez. I just want to get my daughter back." George replied.  
"Didn't you think of going to the police? This is kind of what they are for..." Terry said. "They are pro's."

It was Velma who answered. "This gang...they said no police and somehow I think that they will know if we go to the station. I was all for just paying up."  
"Yes, you do seem to be quite the clever one here, Vera." Terry turned to George. "You know, George, you COULD just pay. It's not as if you don't have the money. If you paid up then nobody would get hurt."  
George smiled and patted Terry affectionately on his huge shoulder. "We want people to get hurt Terry. The gang guys. As long as THEY are the ones who get hurt then it's mission completed. Oh and an added bonus for me would be if pretty boy Fred got hurt." Terry tutted in disapproval but returned the smile all the same.

It was just then that Scooby came skidding back into the living room. His paws were dirty from the garden, leaving tracks all over the carpet. George looked on in disgust, but Scooby was worried about something. Shaggy bent down. "What is it boy?" he asked.  
"Rar! Rizareth! Rizareth!" he panted.  
"Amazing! That bark almost sounds like speaking!" observed Terry. Everyone ignored him.  
"Speak up buddy, and like slow down!" Shaggy said.  
"Rizareth is rome!"  
Terry roared with laughter. Scooby glared at him. "Ratty!" he spat.

"Oh dear..." Velma said. "Elizabeth is home. That's what he's saying. She's just pulled up outside."  
Terry uttered a vile word and went white as a sheet. "What's wrong man?" asked Shaggy.  
"The last time I saw that woman she gave me the mother of all beatings with her umbrella! She hates my guts! Do you think she knows I'm here?"  
"Well..." replied Velma "I think the fact that she's parked right next to your van, which has the words Terry Vasquez LTD on the side is a bit of a give-away."  
"I need to get away...help me George! Someone get rid of that stupid ugly cow!"  
"Excuse me! That is actually my wife your talking about Tez! Now shut up and hide in the cupboard." George said, showing his oversized friend into a roomy closet underneath the stairs.

The front door opened and slammed shut, and in walked Elizabeth Blake, Daphne's mother. "Where is he?"  
"Who dear?" asked George innocently  
"Terry bloody Vasquez! I know he's here! Every time that man shows up, there's trouble! EVERY time! I told you to never contact him again! Are you buying guns? Well?" Elizabeth was beside herself with rage.

This continued for some time until Terry was forced to give himself up. Fortunately he escaped with only minor bruises and, hastily bidding farewell to George, climbed into his van and sped off at about seventy miles an hour.  
"Liz, Liz, Liz, it's not what you think!" protested George. "The thing is, you know that flop haired waste of space that Daphne likes? Fred?"  
"Yes..." Elizabeth said slowly. "What of him?"  
"He's joined the uh...hunting this year. Wondered if I could supply him any guns...so I asked Terry." George trailed away as Elizabeth gave him a hard stare.  
"Last time Terry was here, a psychotic drug runner smashed all of our windows. The time before that, we had to hide out in the subway tunnels for eight hours to evade the loan sharks! I'm sure you can remember what happened to you the time before that. He's caused trouble every time he's been here George! Why did Fred ask you anyway? He hates you!"

George took his wife by the hand and pulled her slightly closer to him. "Your right. You deserve to know the truth. And I'm so sorry...Velma, Norville, maybe you two and Scooby would leave me and my wife alone for a few minutes ..try to contact pretty boy or something." Velma and Shaggy nodded and left the room, Shaggy following at their heels.

/

Fred's eyes were still closed. He waited. and waited.  
"Shoot him then, punk!" the voice came again. Cautiously Fred opened his eyes. It was then he realised that the gang member at the door had not been instructing his troops. He was talking to Fred. "What do you mean?" asked Fred, confused.

"That security man has failed us. You overpowered him. You got his gun. So kill him. He obviously can't do his job properly."  
"And the moment I shoot him..."  
"Yes, then we will have to kill you. But please, I saw that awesome move you did to knock him out. You've won fair and square. Shoot him!"  
Fred tossed the pistol in his hand away. "I'm not here to kill anyone." he said to the leering man in the doorway. "I'm here to speak to the leader of this gang. I only knocked him out because he wasn't letting me in and this is urgent."  
"Well?" the man in the doorway asked, sneering at Fred.  
"Your in charge? Well then...erm..." Fred wasn't used to speaking to dangerous thugs and wasn't sure what to say. He knew that saying anything wrong could be fatal. "I need your help. May I come inside?"  
"No."  
"All right then...yeah...listen, you know the Iron Giants club in Coolsville?"

At once the atmosphere changed. The man in the doorway sniffed haughtily, whilst the other men stiffened. It was clear that they all hated even mentioning the Iron Giants. Fred continued nonetheless "They were behind the Dalek prank." thinking back, it all felt like a lifetime ago. "Do you want to get revenge?" he asked the question directly.  
"Revenge? Sure...but do you really think we need you? We've been plotting revenge ever since it happened." the man replied. "Well...you knocked out our guard Therefore the punishment still stands. Guys- ice him."

"Wait, wait!" Fred pleaded. "Me and my team were the ones who captured the Iron Giants leader! Please! Hear me out first..." Sure enough, the gang members lowered their weapons slightly. "Mystery Inc?" the man asked.  
"Yes. Listen...you want revenge? Well we have weapons and cash. You have a score to settle, and we have somebody to rescue. One of our group has been taken hostage by them you see...how about we work together and bring these guys down for good?"  
The gang leader was unsure. "Well..." he considered. Fred decided to get straight to the point. "We helped you." he said "Now the least you can do is help us. We both have the motive. We both need each other's help. What say you?"  
The gang leader didn't speak. He looked as though he was fighting a huge ethical battle in his head. Whilst he didn't want to ally himself with a tiny little detective gang, he knew what Fred said made sense. "Please. The girl who they've got...I love her...if anything..." Fred's voice broke and tears welled up. "I can't lose her...I...I" Fred hid his weeping face in his hands. He couldn't believe it. He was broken down in full on crying. In front of some of the hardest people in the state. The gang leader made his mind up. He was a gangster and a dangerous man. But he had a soft side he hated to show. He saw in Fred's eyes, true sadness and misery. "Of course we must help you." he muttered, sounding a bit choked himself. "Get the bikes ready guys. We're going to Coolsville.

/

Daphne sat on her mattress patiently waiting. She wondered who her would-be killer was going to be. She worried that Joe might be harder to escape, but she was sure that her little trick would get her past any of the other brain-dead gang members. Fear pumped through her veins as whoever was outside her door started unlocking it. She saw the crude handle turn...she wanted to cry. Or scream. Or both. The door opened and in came...Joe.

"Well. You and I both heard what Mystery Inc have got planned. You know what's coming." he produced a Desert Eagle pistol from his pocket.  
"What do you mean? They haven't said anything for hours!" she stuttered. Could this work? She hoped with all her heart and mind that it would...but hope alone wasn't good enough.

Joe looked puzzled. "You didn't hear? Sure you weren't asleep or something?"  
"Do you really think I could sleep knowing the danger I'm in? I tell you, I heard nothing. Your machine is broken."  
"It matters not." Joe said. "You don't need to know what they've been doing Daphne. But just know that they've failed you. Your precious little gang have let you down and caused your death. Now turn around. If your a good girl, and allow me to do this without a fight there will be no suffering whatsoever for you. I'll shoot you in the head. You'll know nothing about it. Do we have a deal?"  
"Absolutely. But first, I want to know what's wrong with this thing. I kind of want to hear what they've done, Joe. Don't I deserve a last request?" Daphne pulled her sweetest, saddest face at Joe. Even he, ruthless and uncompromising as he were, could not deny that face her request. "All right. Give me the comm. It might just be that I left it on record or silent or something."

Smiling to herself, Daphne picked up the comm device. She was aware that Joe's gun was pointing right at her. She picked it up and turned around, holding it in her hand. Joe kept his distance with his hand outstretched Already, he was becoming suspicious. Daphne laughed. "Oh! Silly me! I turned the volume down slightly and somehow muted it! Look! Does it have playback?"  
"Sure. Twist the rewind dial." Joe indicated the correct dial. Daphne's voice suddenly lost it's sweet and cheerful tone, replaced with a tone of malice and triumph. "I'd prefer to twist this one!" she yelled. She twisted the feedback dial as far as it would go. The noise was deafening. Like ten aircraft jets were taking off all at once. Daphne's ears blistered, but she was all right. She'd prepared for it. Joe hadn't. He fell backwards, bending his over and clutching his ears. At once, Daphne rammed into him, shoving past him. He caught her by the wrist, a look of anger in his face. But in doing so had taken his hand from his ear. Daphne rammed the wailing little radio right up close to his ear. Joe actually screamed at this point. Daphne smashed the comm against his head, dazing him. She grabbed the Desert Eagle from his limp hand and smashed the comm into his head again. And again. And again, until finally he lay motionless.

She could hear footsteps and shouting coming from every direction. She knew that the gang would have heard the racket, but the comm had stopped finally. In the process of beating Joe with it, she had destroyed it. She had the pistol, which she wasn't even sure she could use. Even if she could work out how to use it, could she bring herself to shoot anyone? Briefly she considered "Guru" Joe. She pointed the gun at the unconscious man. Why not? she asked herself. Why not shoot him right through the head. He deserved it. But no. She had to leave the cell at once, before the rest of the gang found her. Doing the only thing she could do, she left her cell and ran down the corridor to the right. She didn't know where it went, or who she would meet. But she had a chance, a very slim chance of escaping. She was keen to take it.

Little did she know, on the outside world, the plan for her rescue was already coming together...

**Notes: Hope you all enjoyed. As ever, all reviews are welcome.**


	8. Fighting in the War Room

**Chapter 8**

Like a tidal wave, the gang rode through the streets of Coolsville. Nothing could stand in it's way. Bikes, trucks, a Turismo, A small lorry...all of them raced through the streets in close formation, demanding respect and fear from anyone who saw them. At the head of the procession came the Mystery Machine, in it's bright green and blue flower patterns. It was slower than the motorbikes but the Casablanca Club remained behind it nonetheless In the vans and lorries there were weapons. Lots of weapons. The Casablanca Club had bought some and after George had told his wife of the situation - which resulted in hysteria and tears - she allowed him to call Terry and buy even more weapons.

Fred was at the wheel of the Mystery Machine. Velma sat next to him, and George next to her. Scooby and Shaggy were in the back. George was holding a rifle, which he was loading up and checking.  
"Right then. " called out Fred. "Do we all know what to do?"  
"Shoot?" asked Shaggy. George glared at Fred, using his look of deepest hatred which he reserved only for Fred. "I was in the army, Jones. You shut up and drive. I'll tell us what to do."  
Fred didn't need asking twice. "We must be nearly there, Freddie?" Velma asked.  
"I dunno. It's on 34th street, but I don't know what the address is..."  
"Excuse me...when I sold you this heap of trash, there was a Sat Nav. Where's it gone?" George asked.  
"Scooby's little rat of a nephew chewed it off." snarled Velma.  
"Oh boy, did he go bad!" laughed Shaggy, remembering the dreadful events of Spooky Island. "He's still crying out for world domination according to the nurses."

/

Meanwhile, in the unkept and dirty hovel the Iron Giants called home, Daphne was in trouble. She was ducking behind a tower of crates in what she supposed could be the kitchen or the bathroom. Maybe it was both. She cradled the gun in her hand and listened to the voices. They sounded disturbingly close.

"Burch! Burch! Where is that useless fat slug? Burch!" Daphne thought she could hear the skidding scraping patter on the cold stone floor. She knew that noise. That was the sound of a dog walking. She gulped. The dog would be able to smell her out easily. Cursing, she slid the safety clip down.

"The girl has escaped. Find her. And when you do...don't waste time. Go straight for her throat." A loud, booming bark was the response, and once again she could hear the dog moving around. Close to her! She knew that the dog would find her easily...but how could she run? She'd be caught the second she tried. She examined the gun. If she was quick she could shoot the dog before it was on top of her. But could she? Could she really shoot a living creature? She wasn't so sure. Of all the times to have a moral dilemma!

She cried silently to herself and considered her options. She could kill the man and the dog. Possibly. But even if she did, what then? There was no way she was getting out of the house. The gang members were all armed, and they's be onto her the second she fired a shot. She'd be killed slowly and painfully now. She hurt Joe. She closed her eyes and tried to find another place. She wanted her mind to escape the house even if she couldn't. She could distantly feel her arm lift the gun up to her head. It didn't feel like that arm was in her control. She felt her finger move to the trigger, still in a far off world in her head. She was with someone. A boy with blonde hair, a somewhat square face and a red scarf. She wanted to be with him. Sobbing one last final time, she slowly tightened her grip on the trigger. Tighter...and tighter...she squeezed her eyes tight shut and a deafening explosion rang throughout the house.

"What were that?" screamed the man with the dog. "What in...Burch, you come with me right now! Now!" The man ran off in panic, the dog close to his heels. Every gang member heard the noise and jumped to attention. Something had happened. They ran in the direction of the noise, each of them ready to open fire on anything that moved...

Daphne heard the noise as well. She first thought it was the gunshot she came so close to firing, but then realised it couldn't be- she wasn't dead. But something had made that horrendous noise. Slowly opening her eyes, keeping the pistol in front of her, she went to investigate...

/

The living room of the house had been torn apart. A huge gaping hole in the wall opened out onto the street. George had just fired a rocket at the wall and was impressed by the results. The Casablanca Club formed a tight semi circle around the house, each one with their guns ready and aiming at any possible exits. They outnumbered the Iron Giants ten to one. "Come on guys!" called George. "Let's go in!"

Him, and all the members of Mystery Inc accompanied by two silent gang members loaded their weapons and ran into the living room through the wall. Scooby obviously couldn't shoot a gun and stayed close to Shaggy. They entered the living room. Despite the destruction, most of the room had survived. The television was switched on- Velma glanced at the screen. What they had been watching wasn't for kids, put it that way. The coffee table in the centre of the room was overloaded with junk food.

"Okay gang...let's not split up. Let's stick together. It's the safest way." said Fred. Shaggy and Scooby had been waiting for those words for years now. To their horror, some shots rang out somewhere outside. The killing had already started. They were probably shooting at people in the windows. The Casablanca Club weren't interested in finding Daphne. They just wanted to kill as many Iron Giants as they could.

Scooby jumped into Shaggy's arms and Shaggy hugged him close. "Come on buddy. Let's go." he said. The team, following behind George, started towards the living room door. But then stopped in their tracks. For in the doorway stood the gang's pet Pit bull It's grey and black fur ruffled as it snarled angrily at the team, showing vicious sharp teeth. It's grey claws were out, and were just as long as it's teeth. Whilst smaller than Scooby, and a completely different shape, it looked just as, if not more, powerful. It got ready to pounce. Velma screamed as it charged towards her, it's fangs outstretched It was a fast mover for a creature it's size. Nobody had been able to so much as point their shotgun at it before it was inches from Velma. But just as it's claws were centimetres from her face, it was knocked off course. Scooby had leapt onto the Pit bull, and knocked it from Velma. The Pit bull stood up again, shook it's head and then, it's fair to say, all hell broke loose.

Scooby Doo and Burch the Pit bull Terrier both reared up to stand on their powerful hind legs at the same time which they had spaced out far enough apart in a battle like stance and began to fight there and then in the centre of the room by locking their foreleg paws together in a bizarre test of strength like contest. They fought over the opposite sides of the coffee table that had junk food (pizza, cake, pie, soda, ice cream; etc) on it. _"Like dude, what a waste of good food?"_Shaggy thought to himself as he watched Scooby fight for the first time in his life with another dog.

Mystery Inc watched the battle in horror. They couldn't fire at Burch, because they would most likley harm Scooby as well. Scooby and Burch were beginning to destroy the table as well as the junk food between the two of them, both dogs were now really struggling and grasping for control over the other as they fought on their hind legs. Within seconds both male dogs were covered and smeared in food.

"We need to go, now!" announced George. Shaggy fired up at once.  
"No way man! I'm not leaving my pal Scoob to fight this monster!" It was apparent that, even though Burch was a smaller dog, he was gaining the upper paw. But Scooby agreed with George. "Save Raphne!" he managed to stutter, as Burch attacked him viciously. "Come on, he'll be fine!" George dragged Shaggy towards the living room door. "Kick his ass, Scoob" Shaggy muttered weakly. The team slowly edged past the two fighting animals, and pressed further into the house.

The dogs began to move, twist and turn in a circle and within a few minutes they were holding and body clinging onto one another as they both smashed onto the small coffee table. Both the Iron Giants Club and Mystery Inc stared in awe as the two male dogs stood there fighting on top of the coffee table on their hind legs which started to crack in several places because of the claw scratch marks they were putting in the wood until it finally gave and collapsed under the two dog's combined body weight.

Soon, they had also managed to destroy the television, when they crashed into it by slamming their bodies up against the Plasma HDTV which exploded on contact and singed the body fur on both Scooby and Burch in random areas of their bodies? The DVD/VCR player, the Xbox 360' and even Joe's Laptop computer had also fallen victim to the war that played out in the tiny room.

They were ripping and tearing apart the sofa with their paws, teeth and claws by wrestling and rolling around all over the sofa. Both dogs were now clawing and biting each other. They each ripped their dog collars off from around the others neck.

Both exhausted, they broke away. They stood there with their muscles rippling for almost about a second or two while glaring hard at the other before they charged at the other to re-new the combat and started to battle each other again, soon the loud sounds of things being ripped, smashed and broken as the two dogs fought by pushing, grappling and rubbing their furry bodies together as well as walking around on their hind legs in a savage and wild like way!

/

Joe, awakened by the shooting and chaos stumbled out of the cell, rubbing his head. One of his gang nearly ran into him as he walked into the corridor. "Where have you been Guru?" he asked. "We're under attack!"  
"Just taking a nap in the prisoner's cell." Joe muttered sarcastically.  
"Really?"  
"_No_! The bloody girl did her Kung Fu rubbish! I didn't stand a chance! Why didn't anyone tell me she could do that!" Joe was humiliated and furious. A girl half his size had beaten him.  
"We're getting attacked, Guru! I think it's the Casablanca's. They're outside, aiming guns at us!"  
Suddenly, a howl of pain and a crash came from the living room. "Burch found a friend has he?" Joe roared. "The television's in there! Guru Wolf will kill me if he ever finds out! Anyway...listen. You go and join in the fight. I 'aven't quite finished with Miss Blake yet." with that, he shot off down the corridor, away from the sounds of combat.

The living room where Burch and Scooby continued to clash with one another on their hind legs was almost completely demolished which looked more like it was an extreme style war zone for the two dogs who were now growling, grunting and snarling with their teeth showing and their claws out on both of their fore and hind paws.

Broken pieces of wood, glass, bent metal, ripped up paper and cloth lay all over the floor as well as around and underneath the two dogs hind paws. Scooby and Burch were now rolling back and forth along one of the wall's by pushing their tailed backsides against the wall and leaving small as well as large body sized holes.

Both dogs kept fighting in a low-down brawl on their hind legs, but were now breathing heavy and covered in a mix of each others sweat and saliva which gave their dirty fur a matted and ruffled look. They also had small cuts as well as scratches on their faces and on nearly every inch of their furry bodies. Scooby was fast losing strength, but the aggressive Pit bull just kept coming. It pounced, this time too quickly for Scooby. Scooby was thrown onto his side, and Burch was on top of him, trying desperately to savage his throat. "Raggy!" Scooby yelled.

The team had reached the staircase of the big old filthy house when Shaggy heard the cry. Before anyone could stop him, he charged back to the living room, his shotgun at the ready. He ran into the remains of the room, grimacing at the destruction. There, on the floor, he saw Scooby, being mauled on by the Pit bull Shaggy had fully intended to blast a hole in Burch, but at the last moment he realised he'd never be able to live with himself if he did that. Instead, he lifted the gun by the barrel and flung it into Burch, catching him on the head. The Pit bull fell to the side instantly, completely stunned by the sudden blow. "You okay, Scoob?" he asked, kneeling down by the injured Great Dane.

"Ryeah..." replied Scooby, getting gingerly to his feet. Shaggy pushed him down again. "Rest here boy." he said soothingly. Burch groaned feebly, but did not stir. Shaggy pointed at him angrily. "If that moves so much as an inch, you shout as loud as you can for me." he said.  
"Ryeah" Scooby repeated, flopping down to rest. Shaggy straightened by and raced back to join the others.

/

The team had gone upstairs. They found themselves in a big open hallway, with a small closet to the side and four different choices of direction.

"Don't you think it seems too quiet?" asked Velma nervously. She was struggling with the weight of the weapon she was holding, and was extremely nervous. She dealt with science, in computers and facts. Not violence. This whole plan scared her.  
"Probably hiding out some place " rasped one of the Casablanca Club members. He and his equally quiet fellow seemed totally in control, leading Mystery Inc and George through the house.  
Shaggy caught up with the rest of the team. "Scooby's hurt." he informed them. "He's fine, but I told him to rest. That Pit bull's a savage."  
"Come ON guys!" whispered Fred. "We need to-"

He didn't get any further. A small metal cylinder was rolling around on the floor. It had just been thrown from the closet , which the team had previously been sure was empty. "Flashbang!" yelled George. At once, the Casablanca gang members pulled the rest of the gang as far away from the explosive as possible, and threw them to the ground. They waited for the blast...and waited...but nothing. Fred looked up. "Do you think it's a dud?" he asked.

The stun grenade exploded. The noise was deafening, and the heat scalded the team. A bright white light filled the room, as the nasty chemicals in the flashbang reacted and burnt. Velma cried out, but nobody could see or barley hear her. But the visibility was improving. However an odd ringing noise persisted in each and everyone's ears. It would probably remain for hours yet.

"All right..." came a voice. "I've got the specky girl here. Any false move and I'll put a bullet in her."  
Shaggy looked up. To his horror, Velma was in a choke-hold with Joe hiding behind her, pointing a gun at her head. The Casablanca members had already lifted their weapons. It was stalemate. "Well well...Mystery Inc huh? You guys came close to ruining our gang, getting Wolfie chucked in prison. George Blake as well? It's almost an honour, sir." Joe was staring madly at the team, his eyes popping. He couldn't believe how wrong his plan had gone, how much danger he had put the gang in. He was furious and quite insane for it. "The ginger girl got away from me! I think I'll kill this one instead!"

He cocked his gun, and prepared to fire. However, the Casablanca club members reacted to quickly, nobody in the vicinity could quite believe it. They put two bullets in Joe, one in his arm and one in his thigh. He screamed in pain and released Velma. She reeled away instantly. Joe, in pain and weakened did some sort of crazy somersault through a door to his left. But as he left, he fired two shots randomly in the direction of the team, who screamed and dropped to the floor for a second time.

"Anyone hit?" Fred asked the others. He looked around. One of the Casablanca club members had been hit in the chest. The one who had spoken to Velma earlier. He was lying on the floor, his eyes half shut. Velma sobbed uncontrollably. "He's dead." announced the surviving gang member, stooping down to take the pistol his less fortunate counterpart had used. "I'm sorry, man." Shaggy placed his arm on the burly gangster's shoulder. For reply, he merely shrugged. "He's not the first friend I've seen die. Unless I die, he won't be the last. Now, let's go."

"George!" cried out Fred. George had been hit in the shoulder, and was groaning in pain. But he pushed Fred away angrily. "I'm fine. Fine!" he insisted, standing up shakily. "Let's just go and get Daphne! Maybe take a shot at that sick bastard who just tried to kill us as well. But, Velma." he added, addressing the hysterical girl. Velma had thrown her gun aside and was on the floor shaking and in tears. "Go. Please. You can't cope with this. Go back outside."

"Go on Velmster. Go and look after Scooby. You'll be more use doing that than you will here." Fred lifted her up gently, and tried to walk her down the stairs. But Velma fought back. "I...w...want t..to help!" she managed to croak.  
"No Velma. Your not used to anything like this, and you know it. You'll help best if you make sure that Scooby Doo is all right. Go on."  
Velma nodded her head and walked down stairs. "Be ca...careful" she called back. But the gang had already pressed on, further into the house.

/

Daphne was slowly prowling through the corridors. Although she couldn't see anyone, she knew how stealthy the Iron Giants were. She remembered just how well hidden they were when they captured her. She could feel them all around her. Waiting. When she passed doors they were closed, but when she looked back they were ajar. When she walked, she was sure she could hear very quiet footsteps coming from somewhere else. Out of the corner of her eye, she was sure she could see movement. But when she looked properly everything was as still and peaceful as could be. It was just like all the trips her and the gang had taken to the so called "haunted houses." Only there were no ghosts. There were no men in costumes. Just a bunch of crazed gangsters, with guns. Any second now, she might get shot. She wondered if she'd ever see Mystery Inc again. She turned round the corner and screamed, lifting her gun in the air. Four people stood there. Then she realised who they were. A big man, most likely a biker. Shaggy. Her father. And Fred.

Daphne screamed in delight and relief, and charged towards the team. Fred burst into tears of happiness, and scooped Daphne up in his arms. She was alive, and unhurt. George smiled and kissed Daphne, just as happy as Fred, but not showing it. Shaggy sighed with relief, high fiving the gang member, who rather reluctantly returned it. Fred sobbed into Daphne's shoulder, so happy to be holding her again, feeling her again.  
"Shut up!" George barked, slapping Fred painfully around the head. "We need to leave now! Come on guys, we're out of this joint!"

A door to their left opened. A great fat ugly man, with awfully yellow teeth grinned at them. "Sorry, this way's not available." he said.  
"Nor is this one!" another door opened to their right, another gangster standing in the doorway.  
"Closed for business!" another door opened, to reveal another thug.  
"No going this way." a third gang member appeared, blocking the path Daphne had taken.  
"And certainly no going back." Joe appeared, surrounded by at least five other men, blocking the way that Fred, Shaggy and the other two had come from.

**Note: Will the team be able to escape? Will all of them survive? Find out in chapter nine, which is the final chapter of the story.**


	9. The Tragedy of Revenge

**Chapter Nine**

"Easy boy...come on..." Velma said to Scooby, who flinched as she bathed his wounds in some ointment she had brought along in case of any bad injuries. Scooby was lying on his side, in pain, but luckily his wounds were little more than deep flesh wounds. The Pit bull still hadn't come to, but despite the head wound, it was in a much better condition than Scooby. Velma shuddered to think what might have happened if Scooby had been left alone with it for another few seconds.

One of the Casablanca members poked his head through the gap in the wall. "Say, whoever you are, you need to get out. We're going to burn this place down!"  
"What?" Velma screamed. "You can't do that! My friends are still in here!" She was aghast. These were meant to be the good gangsters! "We'll give them a couple of minutes but we can't delay. Besides, there's a good chance everyone will run out as soon as they smell the smoke. We won't shoot down anyone on our side." the gang member seemed completely flippant about whether the team survived or not.

"Well...take Scooby outside. Take this thing as well." she added, lightly kicking Burch, who whimpered feebly. "I'm going inside to find out what's happening."  
"I strongly advise against that..." the gang member began.  
"I'll be fine... I'm armed." But Velma didn't sound convinced.  
"Well...it's your call, but don't expect us to wait for you...we're torching this place whether your in here or not."  
"Oh don't worry" chuckled Velma "I don't." With that, she picked up her shotgun and headed through the door into the hallway. The gangster lifted both Scooby and Burch over his shoulders and carried them out of the hole in the wall, onto the street.

/

"So..." began Joe. "So...you actually thought you could just walk in here and get your girl back?" Joe laughed, a cold, icy laugh. "Do you really think you're all that?"  
"Well, we didn't do badly now, did we." George said pleasantly "No matter what happens here, your gang is finished. The whole building is surrounded."  
"Believe that if you will. Tell me...where did you get all these guns? How did you do all of this?" Joe asked, genuinely interested.  
"Well...I got the guns from an old friend of mine, Terry Vasquez. Don't bother going after him. He sold us the guns and left."  
"Vasquez?" for a fleeting second, a small smirk appeared on Joe's face, but he quickly shook it away. "And you obviously contacted the Casablanca's...that makes sense, they'd want payback on us. Anyway...George, you seem to have a shotgun in your hands. What I want you to do is kill your daughter for me, if you please."

A shocked, ringing silence followed these words. Daphne whimpered from Fred's arms, and Shaggy stared at Joe in utter shock. George, on the other hand, looked completely relaxed. "Or what?" he laughed. "You'll have to shoot me, because I'm not doing it."  
"We won't shoot you. But if you do not kill her, me and my friends will do it. As slowly and horribly as we can. Shoot her now, and spare her any suffering." Joe smiled at George.  
To everyone's surprise George continued to smile at Joe. "My dear boy, I fully believe you would do that. I know you want to. You truly are that sick and disgusting."  
Joe stopped smiling and his face went hard and stone cold. "Don't you talk to me like that!" he hissed. "The truth hurts does it not, Joe?" George asked. "But that's what you are. A sad, pathetic weasel of a...man...you enjoy the idea of torturing young girls. I've met a lot of people who make me sick over the years. But you take the cupcake boy. You want to kill me and my daughter, go ahead. That won't change the truth about you. Your scum."

Joe was heaving furiously. He could never stomach people calling him names. The school bullies had all done it. Every single day. He had paid them out for it, just as he was going to pay George out for it. "Right, it's time. Guys, lock and load." Joe commanded. Guns on all side of the trapped team were cocked. Daphne whimpered and she and Fred huddled close. Shaggy screwed his eyes tight shut...

A massive explosion rocked the house, sending flames and smoke all over the ground floor. The shock wave shook through everyone's skulls, sending ripples down their spines. It was the Casablanca Club. The inferno had begun. "Oh my..." Joe looked around, startled. George hadn't wasted a moment. He turned around to face the gang member blocking one of the many potential exits and shot him square in the chest. The man slumped to the floor without so much as groaning. He was dead instantly. The floor stained red. "Noooooo!" Joe screamed, but it was too late. George had already pulled Mystery Inc backwards towards the now open way out. "Kill them!" Joe was beside himself with rage. Four of his gangsters dropped their guns and fled for their lives. But the rest, led by Joe, followed Mystery Inc down the passage.

Fred, Shaggy and George were all walking backwards, ready to fire on anybody who chased them, whilst Daphne desperately ran ahead to try and find which way to go. Behind her was an echoing bang. The first gang member to give chase had been shot. All three of them shot him as soon as he appeared. It wasn't pretty. "Which way?" Fred called out to Daphne.  
"There's a staircase" Daphne said, as she turned left to find a narrow, spiral staircase, leading both upwards and down. It was exactly what they needed. "Keep coming!" she yelled out, but her words were muffled by a further series of shots. She turned round, and to her horror, Fred collapsed before her eyes. George swore obscenely and emptied his entire round of shells on the attackers. "Freddie!" Daphne yelled, running to his still body. Fred groaned. He had been shot in the belly, and the wound was a bad one.

George stooped down and lifted Fred over his shoulder. "Should of dodged the bloody bullet shouldn't he?" spat George, as he struggled with the weight of Fred and the heavy, metal gun, all the while still in pain from his own gunshot wound. Fred groaned pitifully, but as Daphne squeezed his hand, he was able to return the squeeze. "Come on dad! Shaggy! There are stairs this way. We can get down!"

Joe had witnessed the deaths of his men as they gave chase to Mystery Inc with burning rage. He was hidden just around the corner from the team, where he couldn't be shot. He would wait until they were distracted. He was sure that they would drop their guard at some point, possibly trying to get Fred down the stairs. That was his moment. He would tear out there and open fire. Just then, another huge explosion attacked the building. The Casablanca Club had fired their explosive weapons again. Lights fell to the floor and smashed, walls shifted where they stood, and the whole bottom floor broke out in renewed flames, that were rapidly climbing upwards. Joe swore as everything around him turned to chaos.

In a way, Mystery Inc were lucky. For if they had gone down the stairs just a few seconds earlier, they would have been consumed by the flames which cascaded up the spiral staircase. Even so, they were burned. "Which way man!" Shaggy was beside himself, screaming for a way out. "We can't go back the way we came." George said. "GF Joe is probably skulking around waiting for us. We go up."  
"To the roof?" Daphne shouted. "We'll be trapped, daddy!"  
George laughed "Any better ideas?" But shaggy had already gone, the stress and fear too much for him. He sprinted up the stairs, and presumably onto the roof. The others followed suit, George groaning in pain as he heaved Fred up the stairs. They were on the roof, and, as expected there was no way down. There was however a neighbouring roof, but it was without a doubt out of jumping distance. "We can't jump that, man!" Shaggy exclaimed, tearing his hair out in panic. "In theory no. In reality, also no. But let's give it a shot!" With that, George dropped Fred to the floor, who hit his head on the concrete crying out in pain.

But with that, came a third and most devastating explosion. Flames accelerated, floors gave way, and plastic melted. The whole house was dying, and already smoke was pouring from the staircase that led to the roof. Flames flickered through windows and were carried up to the roof. And, whatever George said, the jump was impossible. Especially with Fred.  
George went over to his daughter and hugged her close. "Whatever happens, we'll be together, and we beat them." he whispered to her. "I love you...so much. Fred, I hate you, but thank you. You alone have made Daphne truly happy." Fred groaned again, and Shaggy joined the other three as they huddled together and waited for the inevitable...

A horrendous buzzing, whirring sound filled their ears suddenly They looked up to see none other than a helicopter zooming towards the rooftop. Daphne screamed, as the team, dragging Fred, got out of the way just in time. The pilot landed the helicopter on the roof so fast, and with such lack of skill, that it's windows shattered and the cockpit was about an inch from the edge of the roof. "Need a lift?" asked the pilot, trying to be heard above the engines. George, Fred and Shaggy couldn't beleive their eyes. For in the pilot seat sat the unmistakable, oversized figure of Terry Vasquez. He was looking incredibly flustered and nervous and it was clear that he barley knew how to fly. But the alternative was to burn to death. George dragging Fred, they climbed in. Terry took off instantly, rising slowly into the air.

"All right guys?" he called out casually to his new-found passengers in the open space of the back of the helicopter. "Blondie don't look to healthy."  
"More to the point, like, what the hell are you doing here man?" Shaggy asked.  
"That's for me to know and for you to be grateful about." Terry replied. He addressed Daphne. "They got you out then, Daisy?"  
"Daphne, but yes. Who are you?" Daphne was beyond confused.  
"One of your dad's old friends. Terry. Last time I saw you, you were a three year old."  
"Terry..." George muttered, shaking his head.  
"Yes...hid my special home made diamonds in one of your dolly's heads..." Terry chuckled as Daphne looked horrified "the Mafia were after them you see...tried to make out I was selling fake jewels Never been so insulted in my life..."  
Daphne turned on her father and glared at him, nodding her head in Terry's direction. George shrugged awkwardly.

They then heard a noise below. A scream. They looked down to the roof and saw Joe. He had attempted to chase them up to the roof, but had now found himself trapped. The fire was spreading rapidly. Soon it would consume the roof, taking Joe with it. George looked down and shrugged. "Ahh, leave him. Stupid prat." he said.  
Shaggy was aghast. "We can't leave him! Terry, lower us back down!"  
"Terry, fly away! If we go back down there we could all die! For HIM!"  
"Umm...well...uh.." Terry was unsure who to listen to.  
Daphne spoke. "Go back for him..." she said to Terry. "If we go back for him then he can go to jail. But whatever he's done to me, if we just leave him, I'd never be able to live with myself."  
"Who is this guy, anyway?" Terry looked out of the pilot window and saw the gangster on the roof, yelling for them to help him. "It's Joe, the gang leader." Daphne replied. For a second, she thought she emotion flit across Terry's face. With a face as flabby as his, it was hard to be sure, but she was sure...what was it? Happiness? Closer to triumph. But it was gone by the time she got a close look.

"Certainly, we must help him." Terry said. "I'm lowering us down. George, be ready to disarm him as soon as we touch down."  
George did not look happy about it, but he agreed. With that, the helicopter lowered. Shaggy and George were guns at the ready, just in case he tried anything. But the coward threw his gun aside and clambered on board before it had even touched down. At once, George threw him to the floor, and pointed his shotgun at him. "Try anything, and Terry will be cleaning your skull off of this floor." he warned.  
"I'm cool, man! Just get me out of here!" sobbed Joe. The helicopter started rising again.

The helicopter stopped rising suddenly and Terry applied the handbrake. The vehicle hung in mid air on it's own. "Is our friend disarmed?" Terry asked.  
"Sure as hell is." replied George. Terry got out of his seat and squeezed through the narrow gap, into the back of the helicopter. "Good." he said. He reached into his pocket and drew a handgun. "That makes it easier." And with that, he lifted Joe off of the floor and shot him.

Everyone in the helicopter watched, numbed with shock. Joe moaned in agony, as Terry moved him towards the door of the helicopter, and slid it open. He leant close to Joe, who was crying in shock and pain. "That's for Ben." he whispered, maliciously. Joe's eyes widened further as Terry's identity seemingly dawned on him. But then, smiling all the while, Terry pushed him out of the bird. Joe fell, screaming back onto the roof, which had now been engulfed totally by fire. Joe vanished into the flames, and his screams were cut short. Daphne started crying, and buried her head in George's shoulder. Shaggy and George were staring at Terry completely incredulously. Even injured Fred stirred and looked surprised.

Terry shut the door. "I'm sorry you had to see that." he informed the gang. "I owe you an explanation, and I think once you hear it, you will understand. But first, let's get out of here." he clambered back to the pilot's seat, and with that, the helicopter sped away from the smouldering building. Below them, they saw the Casablanca Gang scatter, as the sound of sirens filled the air. The police had arrived, much too late, as usual. It was over.

Half an hour later, Shaggy, Daphne, George and Terry sat in Mystery Inc HQ. They had dropped Fred off at hospital. The nurses had wanted George to stay and have his own wound tended to, but he outright refused. "So come on then." Shaggy spat at Terry. "You said you'd explain why you killed an unarmed guy in cold blood. Let's hear it."

Terry sighed deeply, and looked Shaggy straight in the eye. "Very simple, Norbert. He killed my only son. Benjamin Vasquez." He took a deep rasping breath, and shut his eyes. "My son was the reason for me to live. His mother walked out on us nine months after he was born. It was me and him, for fifteen years. Football matches every weekend, visits to the cinema, gym every Monday night...we hardly ever argued. When we did we made up quickly. He had friends, of course. But when it came down to it, it was me and him versus the world. He gave my life meaning. I heard you sneering at my weight earlier today, Norville. You see, since my son was killed, I've never been able to set foot in a gym again. It's t...too hard." Shaggy looked mortified. Terry continued. "Joe and his friends mugged him one night on the way home from school. Random attack. But he didn't have enough money for them, so Joe stabbed him. He died later in hospital. In my arms. At fifteen years old. He telephoned me after that. Bragged to me about it. He was laughing about the fact he had done it. Then he vanished. Vanished, before justice could catch up with him. But the police wouldn't believe me. They laughed me off. Can you imagine how that feels? And ever since then, I've allowed myself to sink back into the criminal world, throw away my life, abandon my health, risk everything and all with only one goal in sight. I would find Joe. And I. Would. Kill. Him. When I found out that he was in the gang you were going to attack, I got back here as fast as I could."

It was too much for Terry. He hid his face in his hands and sobbed. Daphne was crying as well. Even George looked disturbed. He had known Terry for years, but Terry had never told him any of this. Terry said they would understand why he killed Joe. They did.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Puzzled, Shaggy stood up and went to the window. "Woah...it's Scooby...wait...is he..." he turned back to George. "George, he's got that awful Pitbull with him!"

Shaggy went to the door and let the two dogs in, who were now wearing new dog collars, since they both lost their old ones in the fight and fire that destroyed the house that the Iron Giants had used as their clubhouse. A Casablanca Club member followed suite. He turned to Shaggy. "One Dane, good as new." Scooby pounced on Shaggy and licked his face. Shaggy laughed, and shook him off. "What's THAT doing here?" he indicated Burch.  
"Well, whilst we were treating the dogs, it seems Scooby communicated with Burch. He later told me that Burch has been suffering abuse from those guys for many years now. He's awfully old. He just got fed a load of crap to keep him bulked up. We thought...well...Scooby thought...that you might look after him. Just for now." Scooby nodded and wagged his tail. Burch sat, sullenly at the doorway.

"Well..." Shaggy had his doubts. "What do you think, Scoob? Can we trust him?" Scooby seemed sure. "All right then. For now." At once, the Pit bull transformed. He wagged his tail and bounded into the Mystery Inc HQ. Scooby cheered and followed after him. The two of them chased each other playfully around the kitchen, to the surprise of Daphne and George.  
The gang member spoke again. "Bit of bad news about your friend, Velma. She um...she went into the building to look for you guys. But we couldn't wait for you lot to get out. We had to fire. Now, Velma got out after the first bombing, but she's badly hurt. She's in hospital. They say she'll need a lot of time, but she should be fine."

Shaggy nodded, biting back tears. With that, the gang member turned and left. Shaggy doubted he'd ever see or hear from him again. He went back into the living room. Terry stood up, having regained composure. "Must be off." he announced. "Best of luck guys." he shook hands with everyone in the room. "Mrs Paggett will want her helicopter back."  
"How long did she let you take it for?" asked George, suspiciously.  
"Well...she didn't _actually _specify...she didn't um...give her _exact_ permission." Terry laughed. "All right, I stole it. So what? I had to get back here. Now I'm going to go and put it back where I found it."  
George placed a hand on his friends shoulder. "Terry...that quiet, carefree life you told me about earlier. Go and actually have it. You've done what you needed to do. Stop the crime and go and live properly."  
Terry smiled. "I'll try." he promised. "Dormez Bien, one and all!" he announced, leaving the room. "That's goodnight, not goodbye!" George shouted after him, smiling slightly. They watched out of the window as Terry got into his car and sped off. George felt sad. Seeing Terry as he truly was, hearing his awful past had been a shock. He also knew he'd ever see Terry again. He didn't know why. He just knew. He turned to Shaggy and his daughter.

"Well, that's me done. Want a lift to hospital, to see Velma and the other one?"

"That's great thanks mate. Scooby, why don't you and your friend come? Play in the park or something, whilst we're in there."  
Daphne still looked rather sad. George hugged her close. "Cheer up, love. We won!" she looked up at her father. "Really? I don't see any good that's come of all this." she walked out of the door and to the Mystery Machine.  
"Leave her." said Shaggy. "She's been through hell, more so than any of us."  
"Yeah. Anyway, come on. Dogs! Come on, we're out of here."  
"Scooby Dooby Dooooooo!" barked Scooby loudly, as him and Burch raised a paw and gave each other a high five.

**Note: Yeah, that's it. Hope you all liked it. Hope the ending was a proper surprise for everyone. :~D. Thank you to everyone who followed and reviewed this story. I'd like to give a special mention to Dark Fox Tailz for creating the dog fight scene from chapter 8.**

**Peace. **  
**TsoLan.**


	10. Epilogue

**Epilogue (Velma's POV)**

Well, looking back a year later, it was without a doubt an awful time for the gang. The weeks succeeding the whole Iron Giants affair were stressful to say the least, but it's fair to say that things are now more or less back to normal. Well, nearly.

Fred recovered from his gunshot wound within a few weeks and is physically healthier than ever. Although he was much too protective over Daphne for the first few months, he's got over himself and he really is as happy as can be. He was never a deep or emotional sort of guy.

Ironically, Daphne came out of the incident completely unharmed. Although it's clear that the experience scarred her mentally. When I got out of hospital, I'd sometimes hear her at night, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. She was awfully quiet for the first few weeks. Eventually, Liz and George forced her to go to counselling and since then she's been a good deal better.

Shaggy held us together for those first few weeks. He was the gang's rock.. He looked after me and Fred, who were both injured and Daphne who was in deep depression. He came through it all with a smile on his face, and managed to keep me cheery as I lay in hospital.

Scooby Doo had a new friend! Burch the Pitbull had proved difficult to "break in." For the first few months, he wouldn't allow any of us to touch him, and only seemed to like being with Scooby Doo. It's strange they love each other so much, considering Burch tried to kill him! Burch had been through a life of trauma at the hands of the gang, and was clearly damaged. It took time, but I think he's warming to us. He spends most of the day sleeping and always seems to scowl, but he seems reasonably happy. He's come to two cases with us now. He's quite a good asset. The baddies are terrified of him! Scooby, like Shaggy, is none the worse for his experiences, and the wounds Burch gave him are completely healed.

George Blake is still very much anti-Fred. You'd have thought the whole affair might have improved his view on Fred, but no. Fred liked to keep well away from him, and I must say, I only see him when I absolutely have to.

None of us have seen nor heard from Terry Vasquez again. Shaggy told me all about how he saved them when he came to see me in hospital. I can only assume he retired from his criminal lifestyle and absconded to somewhere exotic. Then again, he didn't look at all well when I saw him a year ago. He might have passed on by now. I hope not.

The Iron Giants are still gone. Mind you, I do wonder if they will return. I'm pretty sure not all of them could have been killed that day, and don't forget, Wolfgang Smith is still in prison, patiently awaiting his release. But if they return, I doubt they'll stay in Coolsville. After such a humiliating defeat, their name is a joke through the city. For our part, we're never going to cross them again. It's not worth it. I don't think they'll try anything else on us. Kidnapping Daphne had ruined the entire gang and most members were now dead. I think they'll have the common sense to leave us alone.

As for me? I was in hospital a while. I was badly burned in the clubhouse, but I got out. I'm still in some minor pain, even a year on, but I'll get better. Life goes on, and we really are as happy as we can be.

**Note: Done at the request of 4everallways.**


End file.
